iSSS.] Merrill on Birih of Fort Klamath, Oregon. 2 CO 



parts, especially the breast and flanks, strongly buffy. The adults collected 

 by Dr. Merrill show a wide range of variation in size and color and some 

 of them resemble E. /lammondi very closely. — W. B.] 



Otocoris alpestris strigata. Rather rare in winter, a few coming about 

 the houses and stables during the deep snow in February. In the 

 latter part of March manj' were found in a wet meadow (but which later 

 in the season is dry) bordering the marsh. Here there are many little 

 ridges rising a foot or two above the general level and but a few feet in 

 width; the tops were, however, dry and in many places bare; to these 

 the Larks were closely confined, each pair having its own limited range. 

 On April 23rd and 25th they were mostly paired, and fifteen specimens 

 were taken, ten males and five females; the testicles of the males were 

 very large, but dissection of the females showed that thej' would not have 

 laid for about a month. At this time, and for several weeks, the males 

 are in full song, which is most often heard about sunrise and sunset, and 

 is uttered as they perch in their peculiarly erect attitude on a stone or cow 

 'chip.' Often they rise high in the air, sometimes quite out of sight, and 

 fly in circles for many minutes; when so doing their song is repeated 

 more frequently than when on the ground, perhaps four or five times a 

 minute, and at these moments they poise with set wings and are almost 

 motionless. The height at which they fly is so great that often they may 

 be seen to poise, and then to resume their circling flight before any note 

 reaches the observer. 



Of two females taken May 23, one contained an egg almost ready for 

 extrusion, the other had very recently deposited her eggs and was sitting. 

 Many pairs were observed, but for some days no nest was found. The 

 male, who is constantly on the watch, seems to call the female oft' the nest 

 when an intruder is still at a distance; several times I saw one approach- 

 ing her mate, shaking her feathers and having evidently just left the eggs, 

 but my efforts to flush one oft" the nest were fruitless though I made three 

 visits to this locality before sunrise on cold windy mornings in hopes that 

 at such a time they would sit close. In this respect these birds diff'er, at 

 least in this locality, from the areiiicola form, many of whose nests I have 

 found in Montana. 



Though within a limited area the Larks were very common, and the 

 nesting site of each pair could easily be located within a few yards, it was 

 only after many hours of very thorough and careful search and watching 

 that on May 30 a female was seen to leave her completed nest. On June 4 

 this contained two eggs but was deserted, a horse having stepped on one 

 edge and crushed it down, but fortunately without breaking the eggs. 

 These measure .79 X .61 and .8i X .62, and bear a general resemblance to 

 eggs of the other forms of this species, but having none of these at hand 

 for comparison as this is written I will not describe them at length here. 

 I believe these are the only eggs of strigata as yet collected, and the 

 second set found.* This nest was placed at the base of, and partially 



* See Auk, Vol. Ill, p. 166. 



